[MPlayer-users] Re: Mplayer as a Client for VideoLAN server

[Rett Walters]

>xine-ui may not run well from the commandline, but a lot of the heavy
>work is handled by xine-lib with a defined API for the frontend to
>drive. The xine download page http://xinehq.de/index.php/releases lists
>15 different frontends, including one specifically for use from the
>commandline http://toxine.sourceforge.net/

I have used toxine and while it does work from the command line, unlike mplayer, the
only way to execute a single command to play a file is to build a script file then
feed the script to toxine.  Also toxine has very little support for keyboard control
of the video and has no LIRC support, all of which are available in Mplayer from the
command line, this makes it a very unattractive option.  I actually prefer xine over
Mplayer in most instances, I feel it has better A/V sync (especially with DXR3),
supports DVD menus, uses substantially less CPU, and allows for deinterlacing and
aspect changes on the fly without restarting the stream.

>> Unfortunately xine does not work real well from a command line only enviroment, and
>> VLC doesn't have the output device support I need (DXR3) - So I am left with Mplayer
>> as my only other option....
>
>Another option might be to look at VDR. It has a telnet/TCP based
>command line control interface. It normally acts as a PVR with a DVB
>card, but there are plugins to allow it to work with media streams and
>output to a DXR3 card.

I will look into this.

Thanks,

Rett